next his eyes are his Mother's,and lastly they are not his Mother's, but his own. Another author, defcribing a Poet that fhines forth amidst a circle of Critics, Thus Phoebus through the Zodiac takes his way, 1 What a peculiarity is here of invention? The Author's pencil, like the wand of Circe, turns all into monsters at a ftroke. A great Gènius takes things in the lump, without ftopping at minute confiderations: In vain might the ram, the bull, the goat, the lion, the crab, the fcorpion, the fishes, all ftand in his way, as mere natural animals, much more might it be pleaded that a pair of fcales, an old man, and two innocent children, were no monsters: There were only the Centaur and the Maid that could be esteemed out of nature. But what of that? with a boldnefs peculiar to thefe daring genius's, what he found not monfters, he made fo. WHAT in great measure distinguishes other writers from ours, is their chafing and feparating fuch circumftances in a defcription as ennoble or elevate the fubject. The circumftances which are most natural are obvious,, therefore not aftonishing or peculiar. But those that are far-fetched, or unexpected, or hardly compatible, will furprize prodigiously. These therefore we muft principally hunt out; but above all, ́preserve a laudable Prolixity; presenting the whole and every fide at once of the image to view. For Choice and Diftinction are not only a curb to the spirit, and limit the defcriptive faculty, but also leffen the book; which is frequently of the worft confequence of all to our author. When Job fays in fhort, He washed. his feet in butter," (a circumftance fome Poets would have foftened, or paffed over) now hear how this butter is spread out by the great Genius: With teats diftended with their milky flore, How cautious! and particular! He had (fays our author) fo many herds, which herds thriv'd fo well, and thriving fo well gave fo much milk, and that milk produced so much butter, that, if he did not, he might have wash'd his feet in it. The enfuing description of Hell is no lefs remarkable in the circumftances: 4 In flaming heaps the raging ocean rolls, Blackm. Job. p. 133. Pr. Arth. p. 89. W. The liquid burnings dreadful colours fhew, Could the most minute Dutch painters have been more exact? How inimitably circumftantial is this alfo of a war-horse ! 5 His eye-balls burn, he wounds the fmoaking plain, And knots of fcarlet ribbon deck his mane. 6 Of certain Cudgel-players: They brandish high in air their threatning ftaves, Who would not think the Poet had past his whole life at Wakes in fuch laudable diverfions? fince he teaches us how to hold, nay how to make a Cudgel! Periphrafe' is another great aid to Prolixity; being a confufed circumlocutory manner of expreffing a " Anon. 6 Pr. Arth. p. 197. W. 7 It is to be lamented that our author himself has furnished too many examples of improper Periphrafe and Amplification in his tranflations of Homer. Of a Tripod fet on the fire he fays, (Odyffey, b. viii.): "The flames climb round it with a fierce embrace, The fuming waters bubble o'er the blaze." Of a perfon wearied : Loft in laffitude be all the man; Depriv'd of voice, of motion, and of breath; Of fhutting a door, (b. i): The bolt obedient to the filken cord, To the ftrong ftaple's inmost depth restor'd, Of a fword, (b. viii. ): "6 Whofe blade of brass displays A ruddy gleam; whofe hilt a filver blaze; known idea which fhould be fo myfterionfly couched, as to give the reader the pleasure of gueffing what it is that the author can poffibly mean, and a ftrange furprize when he finds it. The Poet I laft mentioned is incomparable in this figure. 8 A waving fea of heads was round me spread, Here is a waving fea of heads, which, by a fresh ftream of heads, grows to be a gazing deluge of heads. You come at last to find, it means a great crowd. How pretty and how genteel is the following? • Nature's Confectioner, Whofe fuckets are moist alchemy: What is this but a Bee gathering honey? 1 Little Syren of the ftage, Empty warbler, breathing lyre, Thefe, and a number of other lines that might be added, are inflances of the falfe- florid and over-labour'd ornament, dire&ly contrary to the fimplicity and energy of Homer. At the fame time it ought to be observed, that he was betrayed into this turgid, forced, and figurative language, by the difficulty of tranflating Homer into rhyme; for he never falls into this fault in his other works, which are remarkable for purity and brevity of ftyle. "C'eft une belle chofe, (fays Corneille, with his amiable franknefs in one of his prefaces), que de faire vers, puiffans & majefteux; cette pompe ravit d'ordinaire les efprits, & pour le moins les éblouit: mais il faut que les fujets en faffent naître les occafions." Job, p. 78. 9 Cleveland. CLITANDRE, p. 108. A. Philips to Cuzzona. Wanton gale of fond defire, Tuneful mifchief, vocal spell. Who would think, this was only a poor gentlewoman that fung finely? We may define Amplification to be making the moft of a Thought; it is the spinning-wheel of the Bathos, which draws out and spreads it in the finest thread. There are Amplifiers who can extend balf a dozen thin thoughts over a whole Folio; but for which, the tale of many a vast Romance, and the fubftance of many a fair volume might be reduced into the fize of a primmer. In the book of Job are these words, Haft thou "commanded the morning, and caufed the dayfpring to know his place?" How is this extended by the most celebrated Amplifier of our age? Can't thou fet forth th' etherial mines on high, The fame author hath amplified a paffage in the civth Pfalm; He looks on the earth, and it trembles. He touches the hills, and they fmoke.' 3 The hills forget they're fix'd, and in their fright Caft off their weight, and cafe themfelves for flight: 3 Job, p. 267. W. "Job, p. 108. There are rather too many examples, however appofite they may be, taken from Blackmore alone. The Job of Sandys does not feem to be admired and known, in a degree equal to its merits. Harte |